Haydale Graphene Industries plc (LON:HAYD), the group focused on the commercialisation of graphene and other nano particle products using their proprietary plasma process has today announced its composites division Haydale Composite Solutions Ltd (“HCS”) has entered into a joint development and commercialisation agreement (“JDCA”) with Scott Bader Company Ltd (“Scott Bader”) a leading global supplier of liquid resins, gel coats and adhesives.Under the agreement, HCS will functionalise Graphene Nano Platelets (“GNPs”) utilising its proprietary HDPlas® process and add them to Scott Bader’s Crestapol resin to create a highly loaded masterbatch. This masterbatch will then be diluted down by Scott Bader and HCS into a range of concentrations from 1% to 8% and cast into resin plaques which will then be tested to quantify any improvements in mechanical, physical, electrical and thermal performance.Preliminary work has already demonstrated that the functionalised GNP’s readily disperse in the Crestapol resin to produce a masterbatch with loadings of GNPs up to 25% by weight. It has also been demonstrated that the masterbatch can be readily diluted down and cast into plaques for testing. Initial mechanical test results conducted by HCS have indicated increases of up to 200% in both tensile stiffness and strength which represent a major leap forward in resins technology. It is anticipated that there will be similar significant uplifts in electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and physical properties which would open major opportunities for Crestapol resins in a wide range of composite applications such as thermally conductive tooling, EMI shield enclosures, lighter weight wind turbines etc.Under the JDCA it is anticipated that Scott Bader and HCS will develop and validate the use of Graphene enhanced Crestapol resins in targeted composite applications and that Scott Bader will then supply graphene enhanced Crestapol resins to markets across the world utilising graphene masterbatch supplied by HCS.

Jonathan Campbell, Assistant Product Manager for Crestapols and Gelcoats Scott Bader Co Ltd said: “We at Scott Bader are excited to be part of this new joint venture to develop and offer graphene-enhanced resins. From the initial findings we have some promising results which we will look to duplicate in our further studies. This development will hopefully lead to an enhancement in physical properties of our already high end resins for specialist applications.”Ray Gibbs, Haydale Chief Executive, said: “We have identified the composites market as a strategic sector for our functionalised graphene materials and this agreement represents a major opportunity to work with another global partner to develop a whole new range of formulated resins with enhanced properties which can be sold into the composites’ market across the world. Following our agreement with Huntsman, Haydale now have partners for both epoxy and polyester resins which provides Haydale with access to a significant portion of the composites market.”Gerry Boyce Managing Director of HCS added: “We are very excited about working with another leading resins company and to developing markets and applications for these new graphene enhanced Crestapol resins. We see Graphene enhanced polymer resins and their use in composite materials as being a revolution. The ability to fundamentally change the mechanical, electrical, thermal and physical properties of the base resin, which typically represents up to 50% of the composite material, will be a major step forward and will give us the ability to develop a whole new range of advanced composite materials and products with enhanced performance and lower cost.”